How Designers of JOLA Honey Avoided Cliches to Create this Lovely Packaging

“All illusions are to be used.”

While seeing the future might seem impossible, it’s exactly what Tough Slate Design tries to do. The agency, located in the Ukraine, states, “We are dedicated to invent solutions,” and this means going beyond what already exists and creating something new, fresh, and risky. With a wide portfolio of work, from advertising projects to branding to packaging, Tough Slate Design aims to look past the horizon and bring the solutions of the future here to us today.

What: Dreamy honey packaging geared towards a younger audience and designed for home or travel.

How did the flavors and texture of the honey influence the packaging design? Tell us more about how you developed the marble patterns on the packaging.

Tough Slate Design: It so happened that our agency is not indifferent to food, including for aesthetic reasons. The texture, consistency, taste, culture of consumption—each time we probe these aspects and then fixate our reflection within a specific package design.

We pursued the goal to visually enhance the sense of mouthwatering mixture viscosity, and developed perfect, in our opinion, pattern for reflecting the sensation.

How did you determine the color palettes for each honey variety?

Tough Slate Design: With the monotony of the pattern itself, the main differentiator of flavors are the color palettes. These palettes, as well as the taste of mixes, are moderately both bright and contrasting, also preserving the feeling of edibility.

Why did you opt not to do the more literal interpretations of honey (like yellow and black packaging or lots of hexagons) and instead go for something more elegant?

Tough Slate Design: It’s essential to see when there’s an opportunity to depart from literal interpretations and to grasp this chance.

In this very case, the main ingredient of the product, honey, is popular and widespread. Obviously, if we’d followed the mainstream approach, we would’ve been lost in the dead-level. We wanted to emphasize the peculiarity of the product/mix, moving from rational to emotional, from literal to figurative, and giving a consumer fresh and juicy experience.

Why did you decide on the specific different types of packaging (the travel tubes, the glass jars, etc.)?

Tough Slate Design: Honey mix is an everyday food. For domestic usage it’s good to have glass jars. On the other hand, you won’t necessarily need a 250g jar while travelling, and this is when the smaller tube turns out to be super functional. Such an aesthetic and tasty product would be a great gift. Expanding the idea, we combined the whole gamut of tastes into one special gift kit.

Why did you include natural-looking elements, like wood and cardboard tubes, into the packaging?

Tough Slate Design: We included wood and cardboard to preserve balance with colorful labels, to keep the design clean enough, and to add some eco-feel to the product.

Why we love it / why we picked it: It’s always exciting to see packaging that eschews the usual route and instead aims for something different altogether. JOLA Honey is sophisticated and simply beautiful, so while it’s geared towards a certain demographic, consumers of all ages and backgrounds can appreciate it. The packaging makes it great for any occasion—a breakfast at home or a picnic in the park—and earthy touches make it appealing to those who prefer consuming all-natural foods.